The association for computer science (Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V., GI) is currently revising its "Ethical Guidelines". These should support computer scientists in an ethically responsible way in their profession. A member of the ethics committee of the GI is, among others, Prof. Dr. Klaus Wiegerling, Head of the Working Group on Ethics in the Abida Project. The next meeting of the Panel will take place in Berlin on 26 June 2017.

Sociologist of Technology Prof. Dr. Johannes Weyer interviewed
In a conversation with the Gemeinschaftswerk der Evangelischen Publizistik on August 3, 2016, Prof. Weyer spoke about the potential uses of Big Data. Especially against the background of the assassination of Würzburg he states that the radicalization of individual perpetrators can be identified early with the consequent use of Big Data.
However, in this context the question rises whether the control of human behavior is socially desirable. These questions are the reason why the phenomenon Big Data has to be investigated interdisciplinary, which the research project ABIDA pursues.

Thanks to the work of the ABIDA working group “ethics”, a new volume on the issue of “ethics of Big Data” has been released in the renowned magazine International Review of Information Ethics (IRIE) by Prof. Dr. Klaus Wiederling, Dr. Michael Nerurkar and Christian Wadephul M.A. in Mai 2016. It deals with the political, social and ethical dimensions of Big Data.

The first ABIDA citizens’ conference took place on the 21st of May 2016. For one day, citizens from Aachen have been discussing their experiences, hopes, fears and wishes on the issue of Big Data intensely.

After a short address of welcome by Anika Hügle from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Reinhard Heil, also KIT, gave his keynote speech “Big Data – light and shadow” to introduce the topic to all participants emphasizing that Big Data mainly deals with the linking of data and the resultant information..

Minister of Justice, Thomas Kutschaty, visited the Institute for Information, Telecommunication and Media Law in Münster on 31 August 2015. The minister and his staff informed themselves about ABIDA and showed great interest in the interdisciplinary research conducted at the ITM.

The 7th NRW-Workshop for consumer research took place in Düsseldorf on 15 June 2015. It was organized by the NRW consumer association in cooperation with the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf and the Düsseldorf Institute for Competitions Economics. On this occasion, Dr. Kolany-Raiser presented the ABIDA-Project, focusing mainly on the consumer as a data supplier and the socio-political observations on Big Data by ABIDA.